Some student government members are now saying there were not enough concrete details available to justify allocating more than $45,000 for its spring music festival, dubbed "Last Call" at a meeting Wednesday.
After an hour of debate, University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) general assembly members approved the expenditure Wednesday without knowledge of the names of any of the potential musical acts. The first UPUA-sponsored festival, called "Wallypalooza," featured Asher Roth last spring.
This vote allows assembly members to shirk responsibility for the festival, UPUA Director of Assembly Services Samantha Miller said.
"I would have liked to see representatives have more options about such a large amount of money," Miller (senior-political science) said. "Not very many representatives can tell you what they spent the money on."
As a member of the executive board, Miller said she has no power or sway over the vote, but she's still troubled by the lack of information given to the assembly and frustrated by the mostly uninformed vote.
Leanna Usnik, UPUA programming chairwoman, said the information regarding artists must remain confidential as the organization works with agents to book acts. She did confirm that the plan is mostly finalized, citing miscommunication as a possible reason for the backlash.
"There was some miscommunication on our parts," Usnik (sophomore-biobehavioral health) said. "But some of the people who were upset were invited to meetings where decisions were made and didn't come."
Dustin Dove, UPUA internal development chairman, said he did attend several "Last Call" planning meetings, but he still does not have any further information.
Dove voted against the policy Wednesday night because he feels it was poorly written and inappropriate.
"Obviously, I am in favor of the concert," Dove (senior-secondary education) said. "But we have to tell people what we're spending money on."
Despite this opposition, other UPUA members acknowledged that the festival's organizers had a limited time frame to work with and were in need of the funds as soon as they could possibly get them.
After several members voiced their disapproval of the spending, the assembly added an amendment to the resolution requiring a specific budget to be released as soon as the contracts are finalized.
However, Last Call's organizers are standing by the decision to keep plans private for now.
UPUA President Gavin Keirans said the student government body is known to have strong debate felt many concerns about the expenditure were addressed during the discussion.
"I think in the course of debate questions were answered," Keirans (senior-business management) said. "We're ready and we're moving full speed ahead with this."
Collegian staff writer Casey McDermott contributed to this report.
